Driving a car at high speed along a highway seems to be fun. You need only to follow the bright traffic signs beside the highways and it will take you to where you wish.

    But to a London taxi driver, driving is not an easy job. A taxi driver has to have not only good driving skills but also a good knowledge of the city of a London, from the smallest lane(小巷) to the most popular bar around. He has to be at the service of all kinds of passengers at all times.

    A certain London taxi driver told of his job as follows.

During the night it is quite usual for him to stop two or three times for some refreshments (点心). He said. "I never drink when I'm working —- I would lose my licence"

    He normally goes home between 2 and 3 O'clock in the night. There are times he has to stay longer and try to make more runs. He said, "That's the worst thing about working for yourself. If you don't make the money, no one is going to give it to you."

London taxi drivers not only 'take' but also 'give'. Every summer hundreds of children from London will go for a day at the sea— by taxi! Their rides are paid by the taxi drivers, and these fares(车费) all go to the 'London Taxi Fund for Underprivileged Children. At the sea, they are met by the mayor, and a lunch party is also held in honour of the taxi drivers and the children. After a happy day running around the sea beaches and visiting the market, the children go home again-- by taxi, and free of charge, of course!

    When I was a kid, I did something really terrible. My father bought me two goldfish and named them "Iasc" and" Iasc Elie". He told me that meant "Fish" and "Other Fish" in Irish. To an eight-year-old child, the names seemed really boring.

    These boring names made me feel the goldfish were boring, too.  They did nothing more than swim around in their bowl. Sometimes, for fun, they would swim to the bottom of their bowl and dance around along the bottom, looking for interesting pieces of gravel.

    I tried many ways to make the goldfish more exciting. The most interesting thing was to see how long they could live out of the water. I took a fish out of the water with my hands and watched it gasping for air. Then I put it back in the bowl.  And then I would take them out of the water again, for longer and longer each time.

    Iasc and Iasc Elie started swimming towards the top of the water, not moving very much. Then they started floating on the top of the water. In other words, they were dead.

    I thought that bigger pets are more exciting, such as a cat and a dog. It would live longer than a goldfish, and then I kept a dog as my pet.

    Years ago I worked at a factory in a small county. Every day I got up very early and often did much extra work at night. I was so tired and exhausted. My whole life was hopeless. Then one day I read the following article from a magazine：

    "A woman went to live with her husband in camp on the Mojave Desert（沙漠）during the war. She simply hated the place: the heat was almost unbearable, 125degrees in the shade, the wind blew incessantly, and there was sand-sand everywhere. Finally, in desperation（不顾-切地）she wrote her parents in Ohio that she couldn't stand it another minute and was coming home.

    Quickly came the reply by airmail from her father just two lines：

    'Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw stars.'

    The daughter did some real thinking, not only with the intellect（思维）but also with her heart. She decided to stick to her post.

    She made friends with the natives, learned to love the country, and eventually wrote a book about it. The desert hadn't changed, but her attitude had. Because she listened with her heart to the words her father sent, a whole new world opened up to her. "

    A change of attitude could change everything. After reading the article, I was deep in thought（陷入沉思）.

    Tony is a seven-year-old boy. He has big eyes, a small nose and a small mouth. Tony is not a quiet boy and he likes climbing.

    He tries to climb up the fridge, but falls down(跌落). His mother sees him and says, "Be careful(小心)!Don't climb!" He tries to climb up the bookshelf, but falls down again. His father sees him and says, "Be careful! Don't climb!"

    But Tony doesn't listen. This day, he decides to climb the big tree in front of his house. This time, he is very careful. At last, he gets to the top of the tree.

    Tony's mother comes out and sees him. She asks Tony to get down from the tree, but Tony refuses. So his mother tries to climb the tree to get Tony down. But she can't climb the tree. Tony's father comes out and tries to climb the tree. But he falls down and lands on his head.

    Then Tony climbs down. He looks at his parents and says, "Be careful! Don't climb!"